Does Man Utd have a player(s) that other teams fear?

As an outsider, I'd say you've seen better days, when it comes to high profile players. Obviously Zlatan was frightening, but he's now gone, and apart from Martial on a very good day and perhaps Mata, there's not really anyone from your team I fear. I fear Mourinho more than anyone. That said, I'm fairly certain, that Pogba will be that player quite soon. When his finishing gets a little more accurate, he will be absolutely devastating. I take comfort in that Real will probably come calling when and if that day comes :D

From Liverpool, I'd say that Coutinho and Mané are probably those players.
 
TehRed said:
Rashford. His pace causes defences an absolute nightmare. They know he will take them on and look to get in behind too. I'd be bricking myself if I knew I was tasked with trying to keep him quiet all day because at some point he will be taking you on and barely any central defender out there can match him for pace.
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Agree. He blew us away in the 2-0, but doesn't seem to have the consistency yet
 
Pogba will be that guy as soon as we build a solid midfield around him. If Martial remembers how to play football again he'll be feared like he was in his first season.
Then there's Bailly, Rojo and Fellaini, but that's more to do with health concerns.
 
Yeah, we have some, mostly scary potentials though.

Zlatan, the one closest we had to CRonaldo and Messi 's fear factor. Defenders fouled and outnumber him many times, still score though. How many times were the penalty box congested filled with bodies? A lot.

Pogba, high reputation, not quite enough last season, glimpse of scary capabilities. The fact that 2-3 players are on him when he's on the ball and marking him deeply are a big statement. His distance shootings last season is not that scary though but opponents are still wary.

Mkhitaryan, we know he's good and could dribble past defenders with ease, so the option is not to give him time on the ball and no space behind. Thankfully he's inconsistent so just try to outnumber him, he'll lose the ball conceding possession.

Martial, don't give him time on the ball, but if we're late, outnumber him and just fill up the space in numbers on the left wing area and he'll pass back to his team mates.

Rashford, he's fast so whenever you get the chance, tied him down physically, grab or physical-foul him, he's bad in tussles not good enough balance. Hope he won't have that Rash moments against us.

Fellaini, hopefully his manager assign him as CDM, heheheh irritate annoy him and we'll get easy free kicks and maybe even bookings huehue. Hopefully not at CAM.. he's very annoying with his effective post play bullying our defenders aerially. Ugh.

Valencia, strong like an ox.. let's try attacking their LB. Oh if he's attacking, relax, just stick closely to him, don't commit and let him make the first move. 2 players defending against him is enough... usually.

Also, De Gea of past seasons, nope.. we can't score, time to park the bus guys and get a point.

:p Bonus:
Herrera, "Stop following me!" said Hazard.
 
No, not in a way that teams fear Ronaldo at Madrid, Hazard at Chelsea or Robben at Bayern.
 
I've just seen this thread, but was thinking the exact same thing yesterday evening, mainly in response to the 'outrage' some are being treated with for frankly wanting 'better' than Perisič.

Arsenal have Sanchez, City have a whole host, Chelsea have Hazard.

Having a great system is always ideal, but having that one individual often make the difference. I like Perisič and think he's a very good player, I just don't see him as the player who will win us games we have no right to etc.

Dembele is the one I can see at a club that may actually sell their players in their prime. I would give anything to sign him.
 
I'd say Martial could be that player for us out of everyone we have. Two problems

1) At least outwardly he doesn't exhibit that fight to still be the man if things don't go his way the first few times.
2) Tactically we don't let him have the freedom of some of the other players mentioned - like CR, Messi, Robben, Hazard etc.

In his first season we saw him terrify defenders and in his second, teams recognized his ability and defended with 2 or 3 and also he has to add a bit more variety in his taking on players.

Given some attacking freedom and more of the ball, I think he would be generally feared by most.
 
Balu said:
If Mkhitaryan's second season is even slightly similar to his 2nd season at Dortmund, he'll be sold in January.
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Haha yeah that`s true. I am somehow afraid that he would Need more time to settle than he will get and will be sold as a flop.

Otherwise I think he is the Player who can do the most damage to another Team. However, I do not think that right now any of our attackers is exactly feared by opponents like Messi, Hazard, Alexis Sanchez, Leandowski, Ronaldo and so on.
 
Giggs86 said:
Can't stop watching that over and over.

Love the way Zabaleta goes down, losing his balance and his footing. Fellaini knocked him down properly there :lol:
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Same here. I am not a fan of violence on or off the pitch but this was just such an elegant elbow check.
 
Di Maria could/should have been that player had it worked out for him at Manchester,
 
Not atm
I do think that we have a manager that they fear though
 
Definitely Martial, had 2-3 players on him for most of his debut season after everyone realized how good he was, and the only reason it wasn't that way this season is because he lost form and now Pogba is the player who teams mark the most. Every time Pogba gets the ball, he has at least 2 runners on him. Ibra for obvious reasons. Rashford is now becoming one of those players - teams are scared to play a high line against us when he is there (see his Chelsea goal).
 
Martial should be that player, a winger with all the gifts to score plenty of individual goals. If he improved his movement and added some unpredictability to his game then right backs wouldn't know how to defend against him. Mkhitaryan is another player who should be key to unlocking defences with his dribbling ability and arriving late in the box. I think we've got plenty of talent up front but through a combination of negative tactics and poor form we didn't get to see it from Martial and Mkhitaryan especially.
 
Fear? No
Worry about? Yes
I think we have some really good players who can do exceptional things on given days, but not consistently enough to fear.
Pogba has that ability, but cant be feared as much the playing deeper midfield role.
Martial and Rashford can scare some defenders, but they are still young and inconsistent. I think being moved around and not getting regular minutes hurts their confidence a bit as well.
Bailly is a great athletic defender and could be a potential fear for the opposition, but I usually account fear as more "attacking" players.
Mkhi is a question mark. We will see how he does this next season
De Gea is just brilliant all together and that Mohawk is fear enough
(Zlatan had some fear from the other teams because of his large physical presence and reputation, but he is gone so doesnt really count)

Id agree with the previous posts that we haven't had a true "fear" player since RvP
 
Asked my Liverpool supporting mate this last night and he had to think about it, which makes me feel like we probably don't have any standout fearsome players.
 
This was the one thing we were missing last season IMO. We didn't have a player that could score from a nothing situation hence all the draws. Even an inconsistent player such as Coutinho must have won Liverpool a few crucial games by scoring from nothing.
 
I don't think there's anyone that you'd be like 'oh shit, they've got the ball', as things stand.
 
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